Rebels seize Syria's 630-MW Tishrin hydropower project

A Syrian rebel group has seized the 630-MW Tishrin hydropower plant, sources report.

The hydroelectric project and the accompanying Tishrin Dam, located on the Euphrates River about 60 miles east of Aleppo, was taken by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) earlier this week.

The Tishrin complex is considered a strategic location, according to an official with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, given the power it generates and its proximity to the Syria/Turkey border.

In addition to another physical foothold in Syria's north, sources say FSA also gained a sizeable amount of ammunition, hand grenades and other supplies from the government forces that had been defending the dam.

Tishrim was completed in 1999 to augment the 824-MW Tabqa hydropower project, which is located downstream.